Read the case Mary Watters vs Mercy Hospital and answer the following questions:
Mary Watters sued Mercy Hospital and multiple physicians for medical malpractice following a surgical mishap. During the discovery process, her attorney obtained a printout of Ms. Watters’s EHR. The attorney also requested to review her EHR on the EHR system. He was granted access after Ms. Watters signed an authorization. A time was arranged for him to review the EHR in the HIM department. The attorney reviewed the printout and found that the progress notes were voluminous and identical from one day to the next, reflecting no change in Ms. Watters’s status. The printout had been quite expensive, yet information was redundant and appeared not to have been updated from one day to the next. Further, in three progress notes, he found references to a patient named “Gloria” who had a different diagnosis. When the attorney compared the printout with the record that he reviewed on the screen, they looked very dissimilar (although references to “Gloria” were also present in the electronic record). He also was unable to locate any emails or text messages in either the paper or electronic version of the record, although Ms. Watters produced several between her and her physician from her mobile phone. The attorney also found in the record that Dr. Bryant and Dr. Stevens had disputed each other’s planned course of treatment for Ms. Watters. The attorney further found that Dr. Stevens had described Ms. Watters as an “obnoxious, disagreeable patient.”
1. Identify and describe all of the problems with Ms. Watters’ record that could cause legal consequences for the defendants in this case (Mercy Hospital and the physicians).
2. Who should be included on a team to address the problems you have identified?